A Little Topwater, a Lot of Lightning, and a Few Fish

We had a good trip Sunday, despite the afternoon storm that temporarily ran us off the water!

I finally had a chance to try out the new SaltStrong topwater lure, call the Moonwalker, for a few hours in the morning. That is, until my poor arm just couldn’t take it anymore, as I rarely throw topwaters. I had to work a bit on my retrieve at first, but even on the sloppy ones, I was still getting a few short strikes here and there. Once I got the retrieve down, I even had a couple nice blow ups. It took a while, but I finally managed to hook into a beautiful 30+” snook! However, upon her stunning launch out of the water, she abruptly threw the lure and left me standing in awe. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a bit disappointed, but the excitement and sheer adrenaline rush that left me shaking was enough to over power the disappointment.

I continued to cast again and again, hoping she’d come back for another try, but a pod of dolphins came by and blew out the entire area. I did stay for a while longer, even if only to practice my retrieve, when I hooked into and landed my first fish, a decent jack cravelle, on the Moonwalker. Another slight disappointment, as I was really hoping for a snook, but again, the fact that I caught anything on the topwater lure over powered the disappointment.

Deran had been throwing a variety of topwater lures, getting a few short strikes, and one strong hook up that ultimately spit the lure. He didn’t paddle away empty handed, though. He landed a beautiful 17″ trout, but released her before I was able to get a photo.

We spent a little while catching pinfish after that, since shrimp is virtually impossible to come by after Hurricane Elsa graced our nature coast shorelines last week. Once we had about a half dozen or so each, we decided to do some relaxing fishing and have our lunch. Tossing pinfish under a cork along the mangroves, we sat back and watched the approaching storm as we ate.

Just as I finished my lunch, the first drops of rain started to fall, and the lightning was dancing in the sky. Contemplating what we were going to do – whether to stay on the water and try to avoid the storm, or head for the ramp – my cork suddenly disappears underwater. Before I could start to reel, however, it came back up. We played cat and mouse for a moment, as the fish seemed to keep grabbing the bait, but not the hook. When I thought it had given up, I started to reel in, and down it went again. This time, it grabbed the hook and was unable to shake it! I finally landed the first snook of the day.

With the amount of lightning, I decided it was best to head to the ramp. Luckily, it wasn’t very far, and we only had to wait it out for about 20 minutes before it had passed far enough for me to be comfortable about going back out.

Finding a nearby area, as it was now late in the day, and there was another storm off in the distance, we again tossed pinfish along the mangroves and sat back. Deran had a few hits that just wouldn’t commit, and then a clean break off on a quick, straight run, leading us both to believe it must have been a small shark.

I’d settled back to relax and just enjoy being on the water, while keeping a sharp eye on the storm that was inevitable going to be overhead soon, when suddenly, my reel started screaming at me. It was all I could do to grab the rod out of the holder and start reeling as fast as I could to keep the fish from getting into the mangroves. It was a task, but I managed to win the battle and land another snook. As I was holding her up for a photo shoot, she decided the battle wasn’t yet over, flopping herself right out of my hands and back into the water!

Spending a short while without any bites, and having the wind pick up ahead of the oncoming storm, we decided to call it a day and head back to the ramp. It started raining just as the launch came into sight, but we were spared a heavy downpour or any lightning as we loaded up. All in all, it was a great day on the water, and several respectable fish were caught. My only complaint is that the days are just too short!

I hope you enjoyed my adventure as much as I did, and that you’ll subscribe and follow along with my future adventures. Until next time, Tight Lines and Good Times, Y’all! Catch em up!